Guardian Angel In The Flesh
by Girl Of Hope
Summary: Post events of TFTB with an AU setting. Youll see what I mean when you read it. Rhys was just beginning to rebuild Atlas after Jack caused Helios to crash land on Pandora; Jack may be gone, but his family ties might not be erased.
" _She was my Angel._ "

Rhys replayed the words in his head, saw the photo he had picked up on Jack's desk; he vaguely capture memories of the young woman, who was an AI program, that Jack had allowed him to see. Angel always had wind blowing her hair, a smile gracing her lips, and the most vibrant shade of blue; Rhys didn't even know if that shade was even possible in human genes to make the colour. He heard stories that Angel had helped the Vault Hunters to kill Jack; hell, Jack had confirmed in his office that she had done so.

When Rhys had dug around in Jack's memory (something Jack didn't probably know Rhys could do), he found information on Angel was missing. When she was created, if she had a mother, how her voice sounded, and how she died. Rhys had began to hear a melodic voice after finding the Vault of the Traveller with his friends; and silently hoped he would find the source.

" _Rhys!_ " It almost sounded like static in the distance, unclear and faint; but Rhys had taken a few seconds to analyse the noise, deciphering wasn't feedback, but a voice. The voice called his name again.

"Wha- what?" Rhys now just assumed he was half asleep and talking to himself; great, now he was going stir crazy from not leaving his new Atlas base.

Just when he was about to place his head back onto his pillow, a light emanated from the small area he had set aside to be a 'living room' (though the space occupied only a reclining couch, a small television and a work bench that Rhys spent most of his time at). Reluctantly, he removed the warm blankets from his body and swung his legs off the bed; the cold floor and walls helped him get his bearings.

The television was switched on, a white background was displayed on the screen; until he shuffled into the room, that is. Appearing in the foreground was a young woman, around her mid twenties, with her long brown hair blowing and whipping round her face, her mouth opening and closing periodically as if she was speaking… and vibrant blue eyes.

"Angel?" Asked Rhys, blinking a few times and rubbing his eyes for good measure. She was still there.

" _Hello, Rhys,_ " her mouth didn't move in sync to her words, but her mouth shifted to a tiny smile. Her programming took in his facial expressions, Angel's smile faltered for a fraction. " _Is something wrong?_ "

"You're…" Rhys choose to be wise about his next words, but couldn't phrase them right. "You're meant to be dead."

Angel looked down, totally downtrodden by the words; she knew full well her physical body Jack had created for her was dead. Axton hadn't been left with a lot of choice when he had to kill Jack, until the madman kidnapped his new friend Lilith when Angel's body was deceased. Unbeknownst to Jack (and most likely everyone else), Angel had her subconscious spread over Helios, and some of the hijacked technology in Pandora; she was still alive in her digital form, waiting for the right person. She had stayed hidden when she found Jack was in Rhys's cybernetics, and used the Atlas tech to transfer herself into their computer mainframe. She'd been nice enough to make the hacking easier for Rhys when he had to get the upgrade for Gortys.

" _My physical body,_ " she began slowly, her face shifting back to his through the screen. Her piercing blue eyes striking his own. " _But my AI program has remained intact after all of these years._ "

"Why are you here?" Rhys asked after taking a seat in his recliner, while resting his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward to examine Angel.

" _I needed to thank you,_ " Angel replied, her smile twitched upward into her showing her teeth for a couple of seconds. " _You got rid of my father once and for all._ "

"It was him or Pandora, wasn't much of a choice." Rhys inhaled. "And yet he still took down Helios and Hyperion. It all crashed on Pandora."

" _Imagine how my father would have controlled you, Rhys._ " Angel's voice sounded again, her lips still not in sync. " _As he controlled me._ "

"I have a question," Rhys said after almost five minutes of Rhys staring at his television screen for nearly five minutes. "How do you know about me?"

" _I was in your cybernetics for a long time, like Jack; but I stayed hidden, and made sure you were safe._ " She smiled. " _How do you think you were able to hack the Atlas tech so easily?_ "

"I wondered why I was able to hack that primitive tech so quickly." Mumbled Rhys, more to himself.

" _You are complicated,_ " Angel remarked, removing Rhys from his train of thought.

"It's early, can you just be outright with what you're saying." Rhys rubbed his eyes.

" _You enjoy the attention of being called a Hero by your friends and coworkers,_ " Rhys thought about every word Angel said with detail. " _And here I am, almost a stranger, and you shy away from the admiration. Do you only want to impress those around you, or realise being a hero isn't just about people knowing your name?_ "

"I-" Rhys couldn't think of anything to say. 'Stupid AIs thinking they know everything'.

" _But like a Hero, you help people who need it, and I need yours._ " Angel caught him off guard. Rhys almost fell off of his chair. Why was this AI that was Handsome Jack's daughter, asking Rhys for help?

"You… You do?" He asked, not believing what he was hearing.

" _Yes_ ," she simply replied, more wind sweeping the left side of her hair to cover her mouth. " _I want to be living again. I only trust you with this task._ "

"Alive?" Inquired Rhys, he knew it was early in the night, but even if he was wide awake he wouldn't have been able to understand what Angel was saying.

" _I wish to be free, for once and for all. Not to help and betray Vault Hunters, I just want to live._ " Angel stared directly at Rhys through the screen. Her blue eyes closed in on his face, she took in every detail of his face. From the ECHO eye to his face on a whole. " _You have the technology to build a body for me, like the one Jack built._ "

Rhys didn't know what to think; this AI was asking for his help, asking for a new body when Rhys wouldn't have even known where to start.

"This is crazy!" Rhys felt his eyes began to drop, getting tired again.

" _Please, I need you to help me. I will find a way to repay you._ " She all but begged, and Rhys felt he had to comply.

 _ **A.N. This is just a tester chapter. I felt like there weren't any Rhys and Angel fanfics out there, and I got this idea at 2:30 in the morning. So if this chapter has a lot of errors in it, that's why. I'd appreciate help with this story, and I thought of the robotic body that Jack had, the one he was going to use on Rhys. And I'd like the idea of Angel being alive again, being haunted by the acts of her father, and trying to get out of the whole Helping and Betraying Vault Hunters.**_


End file.
